AFC Notes: Browns, Ravens, Steelers

Browns

• NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reports Browns DE Jadeveon Clowney badly wanted to return to Cleveland and turned down several other multi-year offers in the range of $14-15 million per season in order to do so.
• ESPN’s Ed Werder points out Clowney ranked fourth in the league as an edge rusher in 2021 and beat his blocker within 2.5 seconds over 24.6% of the time. On the opposite end, DE Myles Garrett was ranked first.
• USA Today’s Josina Anderson wonders if the Browns will sign former Texans WR Will Fuller, who already has chemistry with former teammate QB Deshaun Watson.
• According to the Orange and Brown Report’s Brad Stainbrook, Clowney would not have re-signed with the Browns if Baker Mayfield was still the starting quarterback.
• Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer writes not to rule out a Mayfield trade, either to the Panthers or Seahawks, if Cleveland budges on how much salary they’re willing to eat. 
• He adds he thinks the NFL will levy a ruling on Watson before the start of the 2022 season. He doesn’t know for sure if the investigation is complete but says the league has spoken with at least half of the 22 women suing Watson for sexual misconduct.
• Breer mentions some of the women may not have been willing to talk with the NFL and generally the league talks to the player last, which to him indicates things could be nearing a resolution. 
• He also adds he gets the sense the league could be willing to issue a disciplinary ruling even though the civil cases are still in limbo because the criminal element of the situation has been resolved. Breer points out having this linger into 2023 wouldn’t be good optics for the NFL, which has shown itself to be sensitive to that in the past. 
• Although Catherine Raiche and Glenn Cook will both have the title of assistant GM, Raiche will clearly be the No. 2 behind GM Andrew Berry and will replace Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who is now with the Vikings. (Mary Kay Cabot)

Ravens

• The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec reiterates the Ravens have received a number of trade inquiries about S Chuck Clark, and the veteran is staying away from voluntary OTAs until he has a clearer sense of his future. 
• Zrebiec says the Ravens will still add a veteran receiver at some point before training camp but there’s no real rush to do it right away. Waiting allows young receivers like Devin Duvernay, James Proche and Tylan Wallace a chance to get reps during OTAs and start the process of earning roles. 
• Ravens QB Lamar Jackson does not plan to attend voluntary OTAs as he works with a private QB coach on his own, per Zrebiec, but he adds the team is excited about the progress Jackson is making on his mechanics and isn’t worried about him not being in Baltimore this week. 
• Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer says the Ravens were open with P Sam Koch this offseason there was a good chance they would add another punter in the draft. They asked him if he’d prefer to be released to explore his options but he didn’t want to move from the Baltimore area. 
• The team continued to be open with Koch, calling him when P Jordan Stout was available to begin the fourth round to let him know. The Ravens gave Koch the opportunity to compete with Stout during training camp but he elected to retire and take a job as a coaching consultant to work with Stout instead.  

Steelers

• The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly writes the Steelers won’t hesitate to start first-round QB Kenny Pickett in Week 1 if he shows that he’s ready. Conversely, if he falls behind Pittsburgh won’t wait for him to catch up. 
• Kaboly adds the Steelers might move on from QB Mason Rudolph in September during roster cuts, as they don’t really need him after adding Pickett and veteran Mitchell Trubisky this offseason.